Wednesday, January 20, 2010

With a myriad of tools at a teacher's disposal, knowing which ones offer the most bang for the buck is essential. I recently read some online discussions and articles on the benefits and challenges of interactive white boards that got my attention, wouldn't it be nice to have that a similar tool without the extra equipment and training necessary! Sketch-A-Map is a free web-based mapping tool that allows you to interact with maps and data. You only need your internet browser to access and use this tool. We all need maps in our classroom discussions...they bring the real world, quite literally, into the classroom and offer great connections for kids to see purpose in their learning. As an English Language Arts teacher, I'm always in the market for tools that make "dead authors and dusty books" more relevant to a Facebooking, Tweeting, technology-laded generation of students.

Using the Sketch-A-Map tool allows us the ability to quickly demonstrate something on the map and save it (as a *.png) and easily shared later. As a result I have a tangible reference for class discussion, not just a list of notes. I can include it as a handout for anyone who missed class that day, email it to a parent that wants to know "what's going on" or offer it as a review tool on the class blog or wiki for students that need visual clues to remember content. Students can even use the tool at home since it's freely accessible online. Being able to draw on the basemap and include text offers a great interactive experience for your students as they make connections to the curriculum.

By district requirement, my students are studying Mark Twain and The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. He grew up in Hannibal, MO. The teenagers in my classroom say, "So what!" Using the locate tool, with a topographic base map, I find Hannibal, MO. Again, they say, "So what!" Now, I say, "Can anyone find some proof that he might have lived here?" We English teachers are always talking about proving your arguments, so this makes sense. Right there in the middle of the map view, Mark Twain School and Huckleberry Park! A slight zoom out reveals Mark Twain Memorial Bridge. Now my students are engaged and intrigued! What else can we find? Can we find proof of his importance or presence anywhere else?

Explore your curriculum for opportunities to show students “why they need to know this.”